


Cavort

by yeaka



Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: F/M, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2019-10-14
Packaged: 2020-12-15 00:04:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21024464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka
Summary: A moment of Lucy’s dance.





	Cavort

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Set during the movie. Fair warning that this isn’t properly British.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t own Downton Abbey or any of its contents, and I’m not making any money off this.

As suave as he’s been before, his question comes out hesitant, almost a little awkward, and it makes Lucy tentative in her response. She’s been warned before about playing with her betters, but something about Tom Branson makes her believe that everything will be okay. She knows he isn’t waiting until her title and money comes, because he wore that same smile when they first met, and he was exactly as entrancing as he is now. Once she’s nodded, he holds out his hand. Lucy takes it.

She’s pulled against him, gently but surely. His rougher fingers close around hers, warm and comforting—his body heat combats the coolness of the air. He’s dressed as any proper lord, and he doesn’t seem to mind that she’s not dressed like a lady. His eyes rarely dip below hers. The simple act of eye contact tells her so much about him.

It’s hard to hear the music. It drifts in out the open windows of the ballroom but swiftly dissipates in the open air, and when they start to move, their own footsteps overwhelm it. Lucy’s heels click with every step, her heartbeat racing in her ears. Tom guides her through the dance. She can tell he’s not as practiced as someone truly noble-born, but he does a good facsimile. He twirls her beneath his arm, steps back, then up again to meet her.

It’s like something out of a story or a painting. The sky is a dark blue-purple, but the lit torches add a sliver of red-orange around the edges. She can see him perfectly, crystal clear. The chilly evening only adds to the adrenaline. Overlooking the grand gardens of people far beyond her means, Lucy has a better time than even the king and queen inside.

They do hear it when the song ends. Tom draws to a stop, smiling as though he’s going to laugh. The next song begins, and Lucy pulls him into it, not ready to let go.


End file.
